Revision of Previously Issued Financial Statements - Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	$ 1,913	$ 1,743	$ 5,790	$ 5,329
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	134	150	282	445
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	115	126	228	369
Income tax (benefit) expense	16	(70)	41	3
Net income	99	196	187	366
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	16	17	48	48
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ 83	$ 179	$ 139	$ 318
Basic earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 1.57	$ 3.22	$ 2.61	$ 5.63
Diluted earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 1.57	$ 3.19	$ 2.60	$ 5.58
As Reported
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)		$ 1,741		$ 5,321
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests		152		453
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests		128		377
Income tax (benefit) expense		(69)		5
Net income		197		372
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests				49
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.		$ 180		$ 323
Basic earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 3.24		$ 5.72
Diluted earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 3.21		$ 5.67
Adjustment
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)		$ 2		$ 8
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests		(2)		(8)
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests		(2)		(8)
Income tax (benefit) expense		(1)		(2)
Net income		(1)		(6)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests				(1)
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.		$ (1)		$ (5)
Basic earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ (0.02)		$ (0.09)
Diluted earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ (0.02)		$ (0.09)